In a number of areas there is a need to use small amounts of materials which are of a high purity or must be protected from the environment until used. Opening a container to remove a small amount of such material for use exposes the remaining material to the environment or to impurities. In some applications premeasured quantities of materials are needed for automatic processes. In other applications the material is used in place in small containers such as tubes.
In many applications a convenient way to premeasure, protect or use materials is in tubes which are open at both ends. Examples of such tubes are those used for storing and curing adhesives for splicing optical fibers, such as shown in copending applications Ser. No. 464,805, filed Feb. 9, 1983 and Ser. No. 465,362, filed Feb. 10, 1983. The problem presented by such tubes is how to place the proper amount of adhesive in the tube and use it. It is not practical to do this in the field where contamination of the material may occur and where it is impractical to measure the desired amount with precision. In some applications the material must be protected from the environment. For example, some of the optical fiber adhesives are cured by exposure to ultraviolet light. Exposure to light may cause premature curing before the fibers are properly positioned for splicing. Prefilled tubes provide a convenient means for protecting the adhesive from exposure to light until the splice is ready for curing the adhesive.
It is therefore desirable to have means to enable dispensing materials in small tubes under controlled conditions and means for storing the tubes and transporting them to the point of use. It is further desirable to provide means for dispensing the tubes for use in machines or automated processes without exposing the material in the tube to the environment.